1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to a clothes dryer having an outdoor air inlet port, and particularly, to a clothes dryer which can efficiently externally discharge heat generated in a heat exchanger, which serves to cool the hot air supplied into a drum and heat the air, and heat generated in inner devices of the clothes dryer, thus preventing damages to the inner devices of the clothes dryer.
2. Background of the Invention
In general, a clothes dryer is an apparatus for drying the clothes. In detail, when the clothes, which are subject to washing and dehydration, are put into a drum (or tub) of the clothes dryer, the hot air is supplied into the drum to evaporate moisture of the clothes.
The air, which evaporates moisture of the clothes in the drum of the clothes dryer, contains moisture of the clothes in the drum, and thus becomes hot and humid. Here, the clothes dryers can be classified according to methods of treating the hot and humid air. More specifically, the clothes dryers can be divided into a condensing type clothes dryer, which condenses moisture contained in the hot and humid air by circulating the hot and humid air to exchange heat in a heat exchanger, instead of discharging the air to the outside, and a discharge type clothes dryer, which directly externally discharges the hot and humid air passing through a drum.
In the condensing type clothes dryer, the hot and humid air can be cooled and heated by the heat exchanger and can be further heated by a separate heater. This clothes dryer includes various devices, such as a compressor for actuating the heat exchanger, etc.
The aforementioned devices are mounted in the clothes dryer and emit heat in use. In order to ensure stability of the inner devices in use, the heat must be discharged from the inside to the outside of the clothes dryer.
A method of inhaling the outdoor air, making the air absorb heat, and discharging the air has been suggested to externally discharge the heat generated in the inner devices of the clothes dryer.
However, the clothes dryer has a following problem in that, since it accommodates various devices, if an air passage is not efficiently established, the heat generated is not discharged to the outside but accumulated on the inside, thus having a detrimental effect on the operation of the inner devices.
Meanwhile, the position of an outlet port for discharging the air from the inside to the outside, should also be significantly considered in the clothes dryer. That is, when the air is discharged through the front surface or the lateral surface, it degrades the external appearance of the clothes dryer and makes the user unpleasant in use. In addition, there is a risk of inefficiently discharging the air.